Introducing Seedlet

A typography-led theme, built for the future of block-based theming.

This week the Automattic theme team launched a brand new theme called Seedlet. Seedlet is a simple, typography-driven foundation for folks to build their websites on. Its styles are opinionated, but generic enough that the theme can apply to a wide variety of different use cases.

This is a particularly exciting launch for us, because not only is Seedlet a lovely theme on the front end, but its backend was crafted with the future of theming in mind.

It ships with block patterns

As we’ve written before, block patterns are an incredible new tool for theme authors. We anticipate building these into every one of our themes going forward, giving users easy shortcuts to creating some of what they see in the theme demo.

Seedlet ships with a few patterns. Two of them leverage some creative use of gradient background presets, and the other makes your posts appear to snake down the page like a vine.

It’s built to be flexible

Behind the scenes, Seedlet has been built with a comprehensive system of CSS variables. If you’ve seen our Varia theme, you’ll be somewhat familiar with the system. Essentially, it’s a tiered system of variables inspired by modular CSS. In effect, everything from the site’s color palette to its spacing and structure is hooked into CSS variables.

Seedlet uses CSS variables as design tokens, instead of the SASS variables used in Varia. By relying on CSS variables for all of the core style attributes, we’re able to bridge the gap between the front end and the editor styles. If we change the value of Seedlet’s --global--color--background variable, the background of the site will update in both the front end and the editor immediately, with no compiling necessary.

CSS variables are also easily manipulated in the Customizer (as in Seedlet’s custom colors implementation), or in child themes. In the tests we’ve done, you can easily create a drastically different child theme by modifying only Seedlet’s CSS variables. Stay tuned for more to come on this, as we build out the first round of child themes based on Seedlet.

It’s ready for our block-based future

Seedlet’s extensive use of CSS variables also sets it up nicely to integrate with the block editor’s upcoming Global Styles functionality. CSS variables are what make Global Styles work, and Seedlet is full of them.

To demonstrate this transition, we put together a child theme that maps a number of Seedlet’s CSS variables to Global Styles values defined in experimental-theme.json. That, plus a few block templates, results in a fully functional, block-based version of Seedlet. You can explore this today by visiting Seedlet’s GitHub repository:

https://github.com/Automattic/themes/tree/master/seedlet-blocks

We plan to iterate on (and eventually launch!) this block-based version alongside the standard version of Seedlet.


We’re excited to see how Seedlet evolves as we continue moving towards block-based themes. In the meantime, give Seedlet a try, and feel free to contribute on GitHub if you’re so inclined.

Visit Seedlet on:


For more block-based exploration using Seedlet, check out this demo using Seedlet on the Gutenberg Times livestream:

Lodestar Launches

Lodestar is now launched on WordPress.org. Designed by Mel Choyce and developed by Laurel Fulford, Lodestar is a precursor to Twenty Seventeen, and you’ll see echoes of that default theme throughout, starting with its multi-panel front-page layout. A filterable portfolio section is available through Jetpack, along with a stylish testimonials page.

Mel shares a bit about Lodestar’s origins:

Lodestar started as a restaurant theme named “Porterhouse.” I designed it before we had a good solution for multi-panel homepages, so it was tabled. Once we had a couple solid multi-panel homepage themes, I redesigned it as a more generic business theme.

Explore the Lodestar demo, study the setup guide, or download and give it a try.

Lodestar screensnshot

Studying TextBook

We’re pleased to announce the launch of TextBook in the WordPress.org directory. Created by Allan Cole, TextBook helps schools, colleges, and other non-profit organizations to distribute and archive information in an easy way. Supported by Jetpack, it includes a Featured Content area for highlighting key posts or pages, a social menu, and Testimonials, ideal for showcasing quotes from alumni, staff, and students.

When designing TextBook, Allan researched some of the challenges facing schools when creating their sites, and noticed that many educational sites had little access to good photography. TextBook minimizes that problem:

One of the main goals for TextBook is how it’s designed to look great when you only have a limited amount of content. Even if images are smaller, or low quality, it doesn’t take away from the design.

Check out the TextBook demo, peek at the setup guide, or download and take it for a spin.

TextBook screenshot

Delightful Dara

Meet Dara, a beautiful new theme crafted by Caroline Moore, now available for download via WordPress.org. Dara has its roots in a popular theme called Sela. Caroline tells the story of how one theme led to another:

Sela, designed and developed by the Automattic Theme Team’s Ola Bodera, remains one of our most popular themes — and for good reason! It has a softer, sweeter quality not often seen in business themes.

With Dara, I wanted to refine the user experience and include some of the things Sela users regularly asked for; moving the social links closer to the top, for example, or replacing the static image in the hero area with a slider.

As someone who hangs out in the crafty space, I see Sela and Dara as perfect for small businesses and entrepreneurs who want a softer look for their sites, but the themes’ flexibility and attention to detail make them lovely for personal blogs as well.

Dara supports several handy features for business users, like testmonials that let you highlight customer feedback — available through Jetpack’s Custom Content Types module.

Explore the Dara demo or check out how to set it up.

Dara screenshot

Introducing Ixion

Meet Ixion, the latest theme to join our WordPress.org collection. Designed by Mel Choyce and developed by Caroline Moore, Ixion is a clean and professional theme geared to schools, non-profits, and organizations.

Put your most exciting news front and center with a custom header image and a call-to-action button, highlight three noteworthy accomplishments on the homepage, and – with Jetpack’s Custom Content Types module – use Testimonials to showcase your organization’s satisfied students or customers.

Visit the demo or take Ixion for a spin.

Ixion screenshot

Rebalance, Karuna, and Sidespied

We have three Automattic-made themes now available on WordPress.org.

Rebalance is a fresh take on the classic Imbalance 2 theme. Designed by Mel Choyce and developed by Allan Cole, Rebalance is a contemporary portfolio theme for photographers, artists, and graphic designers looking to showcase their work, and features an elegant Masonry grid for displaying both blog posts and Jetpack portfolio projects.

Rebalance screenshot

Another Mel Choyce-designed creation, Karuna is a clean business theme crafted with health and wellness-focused sites in mind. With bright, bold colors, prominent featured images, and support for customer testimonials via Jetpack, your business’s brand is sure to shine with Karuna, which was developed by Caroline Moore.

Karuna screenshot

Child theme Sidespied puts a new spin on Espied, a classic portfolio theme. Created by Tammie Lister, Sidespied shows off photos and images of all kinds in a clean grid layout.

Sidespied screenshot

Scratchpad

Created by Automattic’s Laurel Fulford, whimsical Scratchpad showcases your writing, photos, and drawings. Full of bright colors and illustrative details – courtesy of fast-loading SVGs – the theme pays special attention to styling post formats for visual variety. A perfect fit for sharing projects, recipes, and stories, Scratchpad is now available for download on WordPress.org.

scratchpad-ss

Theme-o-rama

We have a November treat for theme-lovers – a slew of new free themes by Automattic designers and theme wranglers have made their debut on WordPress.org. Meet the fabulous five:

Crafted by Caroline Moore, Affinity features an elegant multi-panel scrolling front page. Geared to weddings and family announcements, it’s flexible enough to suit a wide variety of sites.

Affinity screenshot

Thomas Guillot designed Shoreditch especially for businesses who want to easily combine multiple panels on any page.

Shoreditch screenshot

Looking for a fresh new blogging-focussed theme? Check out our trio:

  • A modern blogging theme that shows off gorgeous photography, Revelar is designed by Filipe Varela and developed by Ola Bodera;
  • Tammie Lister‘s Cols features a minimalist multi-column text display; and
  • Lyretail, designed by Mel Choyce and developed by Caroline Moore, is a clean single-column theme for personal bloggers with prominent social links in the header.

Take your favorite for a spin today!

Revelar screenshot

Cols screenshot

Lyretail screenshot

New Themes: Escutcheon & Toujours

Two new themes are available for download in the WordPress.org theme repo: Escutcheon and Toujours.

Escutcheon (pronounced ess-KUH-chun) is a bold, typography-driven theme for long-form writers to showcase their work. Designed by Mel Choyce and developed by Caroline Moore, Escutcheon — an unusual word referring to a type of shield — supports a social icon menu and displays post excerpts on the front page.

Escutcheon screenshot

Laurel Fulford crafted Toujours (French for “always” — pronounced too-DJOOR) as a responsive remake of the popular Forever theme. Geared to weddings, it features a large slider (available via Jetpack Featured Content), a unique layout for three recent posts, and a special guestbook template.

Toujours screenshot

Whether you’re planning upcoming nuptials or getting down to serious blogging, we welcome you to take Toujours and Escutcheon for a spin.

Sleek Pique

Pique (pronounced “peek”) made its debut in the WordPress.org repository this week. A spiffy scrolling front-page theme crafted by Automattic’s Sarah Semark, Pique lets you add up to eight panels to the homepage by choosing static pages via the Customizer.

Designed with coffee shops in mind, Pique is a great fit for many types of small businesses. It supports a logo or customer testimonials with Jetpack and can display a custom menu in both the header and footer. Check it out!

Pique screenshot

Consider Canapé

Looking for a fresh, elegant theme for a restaurant or other food-related site? Explore Canapé, now available in the WordPresss.org theme repo. Designed by Automattic’s Ola Laczek, Canapé retains its sophisticated look on mobile, tablet, and desktop screens.

Add features like food menus and customer testimonials with Jetpack, and showcase up to three food-menu sections on the homepage.

Check out the Canapé demo or download it and start experimenting.

canape_ss